#MIDDLEBURY #CARWASH
By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The Middlebury Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) and Conservation Commission (CC) recently approved applications by Maxxwell Sunshine LLC and Patrick Bayliss, owner of County Line Carriage Inc. for a car wash at 2160 Straits Turnpike in Middlebury. This leaves only the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) to decide if it meets Middlebury regulations.
In earlier public hearings, concern was expressed about water runoff onto Straits Turnpike (where it would freeze in the winter) and into Sperry Pond, a watershed area protected by the Middlebury Land Trust, and the proposed 39.73-foot setback from the highway. The required setback is 75 feet, and the existing building is already nonconforming at 59.41 feet.
Original plans were for the car wash to be built inside the existing Suzuki building. That was ruled out by turning radius restrictions and other engineering considerations. Bayliss said rock ledge immediately behind the building prevented it from being moved back and it wasn’t economically feasible to excavate. As it now stands, the plan is to build a 2,100-square-foot car wash in front of the existing building and use the old building for the equipment room.
At the Aug. 3 ZBA public hearing, Commissioner Ray Caruso argued Bayliss created his own hardship with the setback by putting a building in front of a building, saying, “If we start giving up that frontage land it will be going on all over town.”
ZBA Chairman Ken Long kept the hearing open, saying he wanted to determine whether the 75-foot setback requirement existed when the building was constructed. At the Oct. 5 ZBA meeting, Attorney Michael McVerry, representing Bayliss, said that setback requirement was added to the zoning regulations in 1987, four years after the building was constructed.
Bayliss told commissioners he had done everything that was environmentally prudent and safe to improve his plans. He said he no longer has a Suzuki or Mitsubishi franchise due to current economics, and the car wash is his “only opportunity for this business to improve both the aesthetics of the area and continue to be a viable business and taxpayer in the Town of Middlebury.”
The ZBA approved the variance 4-1 with Long and Brian Proulx, Bill Bellotti, and Candice Graziano in favor and Caruso opposed. Long said, “On this property there is no other place that I can see to place this car wash.”
He continued, “We’re taking a piece of property that is not productive tax-wise, and I don’t see how you could put anything in this property except parking cars. I see hardship in the ledge.”
The CC unanimously approved the car wash after a number of its concerns were addressed and answered satisfactorily. Its opinion was that a prudent alternative to the design did not exist, and the activity did not have a substantial impact on the regulated area.
At its Oct 6 meeting, P&Z kept the car wash from going three for three, voting to continue the public hearing until Nov. 3. Chairman Terry Smith said submitted drawings were not final drawings, and questions about queuing, traffic impacts and ice needed to be answered.
During public comments, Fred O’Neill, owner of Fred’s Car Wash on Main Street in Watertown, told commissioners he had 36 years of experience in the business and was past president of the Connecticut Car Wash Association. He said the queuing area for the proposed car wash is totally inadequate. He said his three car washes have double that space.
He also said the car wash could process a car every 30 seconds, making it virtually impossible not to bring ice out on the street. He pointed out the lack of a bypass lane for cars deciding not to enter the wash for some reason, and he told commissioners he wouldn’t have chosen this property for a car wash.
The next regular P&Z meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center.
